Fungi workshop covers the delicious and the decorative

Australia’s diverse range of fungi can be both edible and delicious, while others can be deadly.

A workshop at the Bonegilla Migrant Experience on Saturday, June 3 will include information about how to correctly identify edible and toxic species.

Ecologist and environmental photographer, Alison Pouliot, will lead the workshop introducing participants to the diversity, ecology and curiosities of the kingdom fungi.

Information will be specific to fungi found in the local region, as well as within a wider Australian context.

Ms Pouliot, who has been running fungal ecology workshops in Australia and Europe for the past 17 years, said much of Australia’s knowledge of fungi was learned from migrants.

“Many Aboriginal Australians use fungi as a source of food, medicine, decoration and for various other reasons. Unfortunately, much of this knowledge has been lost,” she said.

“The early British migrants to Australia brought with them a fear or disinterest in fungi.

“It was the various waves of post-war continental Europeans, who had long traditions of foraging for fungi in their homelands, who arrived in Australia and brought knowledge with them about edibility and use of fungi.”

Given the scepticism about fungi of many Australians of British heritage, Ms Pouliot said it has been a slow process for fungi to be accepted as a source of food.

“As the edibility of Australian native fungi is poorly known, most foragers search for fungi in the European plantations such as pine plantations in Australia as these fungi are also European as they live in association with the European trees,” she said.

“In the last couple of decades, as interest in ‘wild foraging’ grows, all sorts of people are showing interest in fungi and are keen to know more about which species are edible.”

Workshop participants will go foraging for mushrooms but will not eat or cook any fungi found on the day.

The fungi workshop, “More Than Mushrooms”, will be held from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, June 3.